Happenings 8.1.18

DOING: sitting on the couch. Joan is napping and I've got a cup of hot digest tea to my side, plus a plate of sliced apple + cheddar cheese.

HEARING: I've been wanting to write about my favourite podcasts for a couple of months but didn't want to dedicate a whole blog post to it, so I've slipped it in here. Most days I'll listen to a podcast, whether just 10 minutes or an entire episode. I just love them! Tuning into stories and conversations transports me to another place and leaves me feeling energised and inspired. Mostly I listen with earphones on my morning walk with Joan, or when I'm driving to the shops or doing laundry. I definitely have my favourites and rotate them based on my mood. Many people have recommended podcasts to me, and I've tried most of them but always seems to come back to these ones. Looking over this list I note that, curiously, most are from the USA or UK. 


DRINKING: water, always. Wine, sometimes. And kombucha, when it's on sale. Now that I think about it, it's iced-coffee season and I most definitely should be drinking more of that.

EATING + COOKING: Breakfast lately has been very savoury, with leftover veggies, quinoa or chickpeas, hemp seeds and maybe some eggs (like the photo at the top of the post). I've been really into the kraut that Vital Biome sent me a few months ago, so I'll also add a little of that to my bowl. Joan and Ben often requests porridge for breakfast, but I just never seem to fancy it myself. 

Over the festive season we ate out a lot - at friends houses and sometimes at cafes - and so I kept things pretty simple when I was home, loading up on veggies, opening up cans of chickpeas and cooking things like scrambled eggs. My FIL was gifted Jamie Oliver's 5 ingredients cookbook, which gave me some fresh salad inspiration. Consequently, I'm super into broad beans and jarred roasted capsicum. Roasted carrots, too. Joan loves roasted baby carrots.

Despite the fact that it's summer, I've been craving hot and heavily-spiced dahls and curries. Lentils + some sort of grain + some sort of green has been a common dinner, and we've also been having lots of BBQs with friends, which to me = SUMMER. Lazy evenings eating outdoors, with kids running around and going to bed late...that's my kind of bliss. My spiced, buttery corn has often made an appearance at these gatherings, though I've changed the recipe slightly. Instead of adding milk or cream, I've been leaving it out and simply doubling the butter. 

Lastly, we've been eating a lot of snack plate lunches, with cut-up veggies (cucumber, radish and carrots, mostly), cheese or hummus, and avocado on toast or crackers. 

WANTING: to defrost our freezer. The effort, though. The effort! 

LOOKING: for family photos. I've created a family photo wall at the entrance to our home, and still need pictures of Mum, my in-laws, my grandparents & Joan with her cousins.

DECIDING: hmmm. I'm unsure. There's no big life decisions happening over here at the moment. Little decisions? What kind of sausages we'll buy for our family BBQ tonight seems top of the list. 

ENJOYING: life. Just everyday life. And the occasions when Joan will sit with us for a few minutes and do a bit of yoga.

SAVOURING: stone fruit season. In our house we're all mad for cherries, mangoes, nectarines, plums and peaches, and we've been making the most beautiful fruit salads. During the year I only tend to buy bananas, as well as apples and oranges when they're in season, but come summertime I go positively bonkers for fruit.

WATCHING: season 2 of The Crown. Gosh, Claire Foy is good. I also finished season 3 of Broadchurch. Will there be another season? I hope so, it's such a great show. Ben and I are also working our way through Game of Thrones. We're just season 4 and I'm still wobbly at the thought of the wedding episode at the end of season 3. I didn't get into this series until season 2, but now I'm hooked! Though I still turn the volume down for the fighting scenes and avert my eyes (which is most of the show, I guess). Last week Ben and I went to the movies to see Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which we loved. The story, the acting, everything was fantastic. Side note, I adore Frances McDormand. I've been a huge fan ever since watching Fargo. When Ben and I were in LA a few years ago we saw her in a cafe. Best celebrity sighting EVER. At the movies we saw trailers for Lady Bird and I, Tonya and I really want to see them both! We used to go on movie dates all the time and will choose any afternoon cinema session over a dinner date any day.

READING: A Little Life. I'm still going on this wonderful, wonderful book. I don't want it to end! Joan and I continue to read lots of books together. She's such a bookworm and will sit and read book after book. It's really one of the only things that stops her from constantly running and jumping. Lately we've been into A Kiss On The Nose, which was a book from my childhood.

WEARING: my summer uniform appears to be yoga pants, denim shorts or high-waisted jeans with a white tshirt. Otherwise it's flowy summer dresses.

BUYING: Not a lot. That's the plan, anyway. In an attempt to save money, I'm keeping all spending to a minimum. 2018 is the year of super saving. 2019 probably will be, too. So mostly I'm just buying food, though trying to work our way through our pantry and certainly limiting treats.

PLANNING: our vegetable garden. It's my new year project and I'm so excited! I want to start with leafy greens and herbs. Anything else will be a bonus.

CRAVING: chocolate, kombucha, cherries, vinegary salads and smoothies.

LOVING: conversations with Joan. She's just so articulate and comes out with the funniest comments. It's such a treat to see what's going on in her mind at this young age. Joan has also been copying my expressions. When she receives a present or someone does something nice for her, she will say things like "How special!". To encourage me when I put my shoes on, she'll say, "Well done, Mum!". And when I get dressed after a shower, she'll look at me and say, "Oh, you look lovely, Mum!". It's SO sweet. She is so sweet. When we're in bed at night and I'm snuggling her to sleep, she will turn to me and say with drowsy eyes, "Isn't this fun? I love you, Mum. I love you sooooo much." Then I'll creep out of her bedroom and tell Ben all the funny, sweet things she said that day and we'll discuss our mutual inability to handle her sweetness.

On a less sentimental note, I've also been loving the wall roller that Mum and Dad gifted me for Christmas. It's from George & Willy and is sooooo aesthetically pleasing to me. It sits above some of Joan's paintings in the kitchen, and on it I've been writing shopping lists as well as important dates and appointments for the month.

PLAYING: Joan is still really into drawing and pretend cooking and shopping. We'll walk up and down our hall pretending to go to the shops to buy various things - "pumpkin and banana, thank you, shop assistant!"... I really like that game. She also LOVES to pretend to go to the doctor. With her ear infection and my reproductive drama, we've seen a lot of doctors over the past year. One of her favourite games to play is pretending to call and make appointments, and then taking blood tests or having me lie down for a "check up". She even puts a sheet of white paper towel on the couch for me to lie on.

FEELING: excited for an upcoming camping trip. It's just for two nights over a weekend with my two people, and I cannot wait! I'm having so much fun looking after my little family, planning adventures and in our everyday life. We're now not in a rush to have our second baby (to be pregnant in 2019 would be a blessing), and having adjusted my expectations on that front I just feel happier, more present. Things feel really good, folks. 

Happenings posts inspired by Pip.

Heidi xo

LifeHeidi Apples2 Comments